Beyond the Dictionary in Dutch: A Guide to Correct Word Usage for the English-Speaking Student

Dick Coutinho. Muiderberg, Netherlands. 1990. 380 pages. ISBN 90 6283 814 6For a speaker of English it is often very difficult to understand the difference in meaning between e.g. the Dutch words ’bloem’ and ’meel’. This book seeks to supplement the information offered in English-Dutch dictionaries, which, due to the constraints of space applicable in all dictionaries, often provide too little additional information to help the learner choose the correct word for a given context. This is particularly the case with Dutch-English dictionaries as all but the very simplest have been written with only the needs of the Dutch learner of English in mind, not the reverse.This book describes how to use approximately 2500 common Dutch words, classified under about 500 English entries, many of them multiple. This list contains many of the common lexical pitfalls for English-speaking people learning Dutch. It is a useful addition to a good grammar and dictionary for any student of Dutch.